Should Fresno State remove Gandhi statue? Growing student movement pushing for change

Despite a growing movement asking Fresno State leaders to remove a Mahatma Gandhi bust from the Peace Garden because of the Indian activist’s prejudiced views, President Joseph I. Castro has refused, according to the university.

San Joaquin Memorial High School student Akhnoor Sidhu started an online petition that’s garnered nearly 5,000 signatures asking for the removal of the bust.

The petition comes at a time when Confederate and other racist symbols and statues around the nation are being taken down in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Castro released a statement last week, refusing to remove the bust.

Castro said the statue, which sits in the Peace Garden alongside Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez and Jane Addams, embodies “the spirit of peaceful and constructive activism.”

“This transcendent quality is what the garden memorializes,” Castro said in the statement. “It does not necessarily honor every facet of their lives.”

He said each person memorialized in the garden has an important place in history.

“We applaud those who call for a clear-eyed look at history and the individuals who shaped it,” Castro said. “We also urge everyone to consider carefully the overall significance of each individual’s lasting contribution to a just and fair society.”

Akhnoor’s petition has garnered support from the Jakara Movement, a Sikh youth organization that supports social justice causes.

Simarta Sidhu, a Fresno State student, is part of the Jakara Movement’s university chapter, which is constructing a letter of support that they plan to release soon. Sidhu said the club hopes to gain backing from university professors and other authorities to change Castro’s mind.

“People have been trying for a few years, even more, to remove the bust,” she said. “We have some Fresno State students who are already starting to work with us and support us.”

She said it’s been challenging to get support from history professors at Fresno State.

“They’re neutral about the situation because they don’t want to assert their opinion about it,” she said. “People of color, like myself, have to see his statue every time and it’s kind of a slap in the face.”

Gandhi’s history

“Gandhi is idolized worldwide as a prophet, a visionary, even a messiah,” Akhnoor wrote in the petition. “However, the popular image of Gandhi is a myth.”

She said weak documentation of history at that time allowed for a false image of Gandhi to emerge.

“Gandhi was deeply prejudiced against all minorities, from black Africans, Jews, to low-caste Hindus. He also demonstrated a shocking lack of morality, from sleeping naked with young girls to employing nonviolence merely as a tool of political expediency.”

A Gandhi statue was unveiled in Davis in 2016, causing a whirlwind of controversy, especially among the Sikh community. Some Sikhs believe he caused violence among Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims when he was alive.

The Jakara Movement said in a statement that Gandhi is a controversial figure even in India, and celebrations of him are fading out.

When Punjabi Radio AM 900 recently discussed the issue on air, there was overwhelming support in favor of removing the statue, the organization said.

The Fresno State Peace Garden was created 30 years ago outside what is now the Henry Madden Library. The statue’s dedication ceremony was held in 1990, on what would have been Gandhi’s 121st birthday, according to Bee archives.

It was created by Fresno artist Jame Zarl Smith and completed in the Phebe Conley Art Building on campus. It weighs 1,500 pounds and is 4 feet tall. It was financed by the student government and the Central California Cultural Society of India.

The project was coordinated by Richard Ford, dean of the School of Health and Social Work and Sudarshan Kapoor, a philosophy professor at the university.

Fresno State celebrates Gandhi’s birthday every year, and in October, celebrated his 150th with a visit from granddaughter Ela Gandhi.

Kapoor, who also organizes the celebrations, declined to comment for this story.

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.

This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 2:33 PM.